Challenger: Shuttle Disaster That Changed NASA Challenger: Shuttle Disaster That Changed NASA By Elizabeth Howell, Space.com Contributor | October 16, 2012 01:21pm ET MORE The space shuttle Challenger was one of NASA's greatest triumphs. It was the second shuttle to reach space, in April 1983. It successfully completed nine milestone missions. But Challenger was also NASA's darkest tragedy. On its 10th launch, on Jan. 28, 1986, the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, killing the seven crewmembers. The accident changed the space program forever. This full view of Challenger in space was taken by a satellite. A heavily cloud-covered portion of the Earth forms the backdrop for this scene of Challenger in orbit. This image was taken during Challenger's STS-7 mission, which launched on June 18, 1983. Credit: NASA From test vehicle to space vehicle NASA originally intended Challenger to be a test vehicle. Rockwell began building the shuttle in November 1975 and then sent it to Lockheed for structural testing starting on April 2, 1978.

According to NASA, computer models at the time were not sophisticated enough to calculate the stresses on the shuttle during different phases of flight. The shuttle, then known as STA-099, went through 11 months of vibration testing in a specially formulated rig. This custom-designed machine could bring the shuttle through a simulation of all phases of flight, from liftoff to landing. Three hydraulic cylinders, each with one million pounds of force, were used as substitute space shuttle main engines. In 1979, NASA awarded Rockwell a supplemental contract to convert the test vehicle to a spacecraft. This would expand the shuttle fleet to two spacecraft, the first one being Columbia . It took two more years for Rockwell to perform the conversion. Among other things, workers had to strengthen the wings, put in a real crew cabin instead of a simulated one, and install heads-up displays for the astronauts working inside. Work completed on Oct. 23, 1981. Delays for the first flight Challenger was expected to go into space on Jan. 20, 1983, to release the first Tracking and Data Relay Satellite , which later became part of a series of satellites that astronauts used to stay in touch with controllers back home.

Several technical malfunctions pushed the launch back, though. First, NASA discovered a hydrogen leak in the No. 1 main engine aft compartment during a flight readiness test in December. In a second test on Jan. 25, 1983, NASA discovered cracks in the engine that were causing the leak. The agency then took several months to remove the engines and test them. While engines two and three were deemed healthy, NASA replaced Engine No. 1. A view of the shuttle Challenger's maiden STS-6 launch on April 4, 1983. In this view, Challenger is just clearing the launch pad in a cloud of smoke. Credit: NASA After another delay due to a problem with TDRS, Challenger launched successfully on April 4, 1983, on mission STS-6. Crew members set the satellite free; astronauts Story Musgrave and Donald Peterson also did the first spacewalk of the shuttle program. Cultural and technical firsts Besides the milestones in space technology, Challenger also was the vehicle by which several cultural firsts happened in the space shuttle program. The first American female astronaut, Sally Ride , rode up on Challenger on STS-7 in June 1983.

The first African-American , Guion Bluford, reached space on STS-8. On STS-41G in 1984, two women — Ride and Kathryn Sullivan — flew on one mission for the first time – as well as the first Canadian, Marc Garneau. Other milestones Challenger marked included the first night launch and landing (STS-8) and the first operational Spacelab flight (STS-51B). Spacelab was a European space laboratory that fit into a shuttle's cargo bay and included several experiments designed for tests in microgravity. It flew on Columbia on STS-9 for the first time, but Challenger's mission is considered the first working one. The flying repairman Some of Challenger's most memorable moments took place in April 1984, on STS-41C. That mission featured the very first astronaut repair of a satellite. To get at the nonfunctional Solar Maximum Mission satellite, astronaut George Nelson strapped himself into the Manned Maneuvering Unit , which was a jet-powered backpack designed for astronauts to fly in space. It had only been tested on one mission before this one.

Challenger moved in space until it was only 200 feet from the satellite. Then, Nelson carefully left the safety of the shuttle and flew over to the satellite. A "fixture" on the front of his backpack let Nelson dock with the satellite, which was slowly tumbling in space. Next, he fired the jets on his backpack to stop the satellite's spin. Crew members on Challenger then maneuvered the space shuttle close to the satellite, reached out with the Canadarm robotic arm, and plucked the satellite out of empty space and into the payload bay. Nelson and crewmate James "Ox" Van Hoften repaired the satellite together, then the crew lofted the satellite back into space. SMM continued functioning for several years, then burned up in the atmosphere in December 1989. Challenger disaster It was a cold morning on Jan. 28, 1986, when Challenger was supposed to fly into space. Temperatures dipped below freezing. There were certain people at NASA and among contractors that worried about the integrity of the seals on the solid rocket boosters in cold weather.

At 78 seconds after liftoff, this image shows Challenger's left wing, main engines (still burning residual propellant) and the forward fuselage (crew cabin). Credit: NASA Challenger launched at 11:38 a.m. Eastern time in front of more media attention than usual, as it was carrying the first teacher to go in space. Christa McAuliffe was planning to give lessons while in orbit. She and the rest of the crew never made it. Challenger broke up 73 seconds after launch in front of the television cameras. "Flight controllers here are looking very carefully at the situation. Obviously a major malfunction," the NASA launch commentator said as pieces of the shuttle fell from the sky into the Atlantic. Salvage crews spent several weeks recovering pieces of the shuttle and carefully, bringing up the remains of the seven astronauts. Remains that could be identified were turned over to the families, while the rest were buried in a monument to the Challenger crew at Arlington Cemetery on May 20, 1986. Cultural and technical problems A presidential commission was convened to look into the incident, chaired by former attorney general and secretary of state William P. Rogers.

It included participation from Neil Armstrong (the first man on the moon) and NASA astronaut Sally Ride, among others. The commission talked about the technical causes of the accident , which was traced to cold weather degrading the seal on the boosters. Additionally, it brought to light cultural problems at NASA, such as failing to voice all problems to the launch decision team. The commission also said that the shuttle's proposed flight rate was unsustainable given the size of its workforce. NASA made technical changes to the shuttle and also worked to change the culture of its workforce in the wake of what happened with Challenger. The shuttle program resumed flights in 1988. After the Challenger wreckage was examined, the pieces were buried and sealed in abandoned Minuteman missile silos at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where they remain today. Challenger's explosion changed the space shuttle program in several ways. Plans to fly other civilians in space (such as journalists) were shelved for 22 years, until Barbara Morgan , who was McAuliffe's backup, flew aboard Endeavour in 2007. Satellite launches were shifted from the shuttle to reusable rockets.

Additionally, astronauts were pulled off of duties such as repairing satellites, and the Manned Maneuvering Unit was not flown again, to better preserve their safety. Every January, NASA pauses to remember the last crew of Challenger, and the other crews lost in pursuing space, on a NASA Day of Remembrance . Additionally, Challenger has an educational legacy: members of the crews' families founded the Challenger Center for Space Science Education program, which brings students on simulated space missions. On Jan. 28, 1986, NASA faced its first shuttle disaster, the loss of the Challenger orbiter and its seven-astronaut crew. Here, Challenger's last crew – members of the STS-51L mission – stand in the White Room at Pad 39B following the end of a launch dress rehearsal. They are (L to R) Teacher in Space Participant, Sharon "Christa" McAuliffe, Payload Specialist, Gregory Jarvis, Mission Specialist, Judy Resnik, Commander Dick Scobee. Mission Specialist, Ronald McNair, Pilot, Michael Smith and Mission Specialist, Ellison Onizuka.

Credit: NASA The Crew of the Challenger Shuttle Mission in 1986 National Aeronautics and Space Administration The Crew of the Challenger Shuttle Mission in 1986 The Challenger shuttle crew, of seven astronauts--including the specialties of pilot, aerospace engineers, and scientists-- died tragically in the explosion of their spacecraft during the launch of STS-51-L from the Kennedy Space Center about 11:40 a.m., EST, on January 28, 1986. The explosion occurred 73 seconds into the flight as a result of a leak in one of two Solid Rocket Boosters that ignited the main liquid fuel tank. The crewmembers of the Challenger represented a cross-section of the American population in terms of race, gender, geography, background, and religion. The explosion became one of the most significant events of the 1980s, as billions around the world saw the accident on television and empathized with any one of the several crewmembers killed. The spacecraft commander was Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Francis W. Scobee.

He was born on May 19, 1939, in Cle Elum, Washington, and graduated from the public high school in Auburn, Washington, in 1957. He then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, training as a reciprocating engine mechanic but longing to fly. He took night courses and in 1965 completed a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Arizona. This made it possible for Scobee to receive an officer's commission and enter the Air Force pilot training program. He received his pilot's wings in 1966 and began a series of flying assignments with the Air Force, including a combat tour in Vietnam. Scobee also married June Kent of San Antonio, Texas, and they had two children, Kathie R. and Richard W., in the early 1960s. He attended the USAF Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 1972 and thereafter was involved in several test programs. As an Air Force test pilot Scobee flew more than 45 types of aircraft, logging more than 6,500 hours of flight time.

In 1978 Scobee entered NASA's astronaut corps and was the pilot of STS-41-C, the fifth orbital flight of the Challenger spacecraft, launching from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on April 6, 1984. During this seven-day mission the crew successfully retrieved and repaired the ailing Solar Maximum Satellite and returned it to orbit. This was an enormously important mission, because it demonstrated the capability that NASA had long said existed with the Space Shuttle to repair satellites in orbit. The pilot for the fatal 1986 Challenger mission was Michael J. Smith, born on April 30, 1945 in Beaufort, North Carolina. At the time of the Challenger accident a commander in the U.S. Navy, Smith had been educated at the U.S. Naval Academy, class of 1967, and received an M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1968. From there he underwent aviator training at Kingsville, Texas, and received his wings in May 1969.

After a tour as an instructor at the Navy's Advanced Jet Training Command between 1969 and 1971, Smith flew A- 6 "Intruders" from the USS Kitty Hawk in Southeast Asia. Later he worked as a test pilot for the Navy, flying 28 different types of aircraft and logging more than 4,300 hours of flying time. Smith was selected as a NASA astronaut in May 1980, and a year later, after completing further training, he received an assignment as a Space Shuttle pilot, the position he occupied aboard Challenger. This mission was his first space flight. Judith A. Resnik was one of three mission specialists on Challenger. Born on April 5, 1949 at Akron, Ohio, the daughter of Dr. Marvin Resnik, a respected Akron optometrist, and Sarah Resnik. Brought up in the Jewish religion, Resnik was educated in public schools before attending Carnegie-Mellon University, where she received a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1970, and the University of Maryland, where she took at Ph.D. in the same field in 1977.

Resnik worked in a variety of professional positions with the RCA corporation in the early 1970s and as a staff fellow with the Laboratory of Neurophysiology at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, between 1974 and 1977. Selected as a NASA astronaut in January 1978, the first cadre containing women, Resnik underwent the training program for Shuttle mission specialists during the next year. Thereafter, she filled a number of positions within NASA at the Johnson Space Center, working on aspects of the Shuttle program. Resnik became the second American woman in orbit during the maiden flight of Discovery, STS-41-D, between August 30 and September 5, 1984. During this mission she helped to deploy three satellites into orbit; she was also involved in biomedical research during the mission. Afterward, she began intensive training for the STS-51- L mission on which she was killed. Ronald E. McNair was the second of three mission specialists aboard Challenger. Born on October 21, 1950 in Lake City, South Carolina, McNair was the son of Carl C.

McNair, Sr., and Pearl M. McNair. He achieved early success in the segregated public schools he attended as both a student and an athlete. Valedictorian of his high school class, he attended North Carolina A&T State University where in 1971 he received a B.S. degree in physics. He went on to study physics at MIT, where he specialized in quantum electronics and laser technology, completing his Ph.D. in 1977. As a student he performed some of the earliest work on chemical HF/DF and high pressure CO lasers, publishing pathbreaking scientific papers on the subject. McNair was also a physical fitness advocate and pursued athletic training from an early age. He was a leader in track and football at his high school. He also became a black belt in Karate, and while in graduate school began offering classes at St. Paul's AME Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He also participated in several Karate tournaments, taking more than 30 trophies in these competitions. While involved in these activities McNair met and married Cheryl B. Moore of Brooklyn, New York, and they later had two children. After completing his Ph.D.

he began working as a physicist at the Optical Physics Department of Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California, and conducted research on electro-optic laser modulation for satellite-to-satellite space communications. This research led McNair into close contact with the space program for the first time, and when the opportunity presented itself he applied for astronaut training. In January 1978 NASA selected him to enter the astronaut cadre, one of the first three Black Americans selected. McNair became the second Black American in space between Febrary 3 and 11, 1984, by flying on the Challenger Shuttle mission STS-41-B. During this mission McNair operated the maneuverable arm built by Canada used to move payloads in space. The 1986 mission on which he was killed was his second Shuttle flight. Ellison S. Onizuka, was the last of the three mission specialists. He had been born in Kealakekua, Kona, Hawaii, on June 24, 1946, of Japanese-American parents. He attended the University of Colorado, receiving B.S. and M.S. degrees in engineering in June and December 1969, respectively.

While at the university he married Lorna Leido Yoshida of Hawaii, and the couple eventually had two children. He also participated in the Air Force R.O.T.C. program, leading to a commission in January 1970. Onizuka served on active duty with the Air Force until January 1978 when he was selected as a NASA astronaut. With the Air Force in the early 1970s he was an aerospace flight test engineer at the Sacramento Air Logistics Center. After July 1975 he was assigned to the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California, as squadron flight test officer and later as chief of the engineering support section. When Onizuka was selected for the astronaut corps he entered into a one year training program and then became eligible for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flights. He worked on orbiter test and checkout teams and launch support crews at the Kennedy Space Center for the first two Shuttle missions. Since he was an Air Force officer on detached duty with NASA, Onizuka was a logical choice to serve on the first dedicated Department of Defense classified mission.

He was a mission specialist on STS-51-C, taking place 24-27 Jan. 1985 on the Discovery orbiter. The Challenger flight was his second Shuttle mission. The last two members of the Challenger crew were not officially Federal government employees. Gregory B. Jarvis, a payload specialist, worked for the Hughes Aircraft Corp.'s Space and Communications Group in Los Angeles, California, and had been made available for the Challenger flight by his company. Jarvis had been born on August 24, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan. He had been educated at the State University of New York at Buffalo, receiving a B.S. in electrical engineering (1967); at Northeastern University, Boston, where he received an M.S. degree in the same field (1969); and at West Coast University, Los Angeles, where he completed coursework for an M.S. in management science (1973). Jarvis began work at Hughes in 1973 and served in a variety of technical positions until 1984 when he was accepted into the astronaut program under Hughes' sponsorship after competing against 600 other Hughes employees for the opportunity.

Jarvis' duties on the Challenger flight had revolved around gathering new information on the design of liquid-fueled rockets. The last member of the crew was Sharon Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher to fly in space. Selected from among more than 11,000 applicants from the education profession for entrance into the astronaut ranks, McAuliffe had been born on September 2, 1948, the oldest child of Edward and Grace Corrigan. Her father was at that time completing his sophomore year at Boston College, but not long thereafter he took a job as an assistant comptroller in a Boston department store and the family moved to the Boston suburb of Framingham. As a youth she registered excitement over the Apollo moon landing program, and wrote years later on her astronaut application form that "I watched the Space Age being born and I would like to participate." McAuliffe attended Framingham State College in her hometown, graduating in 1970. A few weeks later she married her longstanding boyfriend, Steven McAuliffe, and they moved to the Washington, DC, metropolitan area so Steven could attend Georgetown Law School. She took a job teaching in the secondary schools, specializing in American history and social studies.

They stayed in the Washington area for the next eight years, she teaching and completing an M.A. from Bowie State University, in Maryland. They moved to Concord, New Hampshire, in 1978 when Steven accepted a job as an assistant to the state attorney general. Christa took a teaching post at Concord High School in 1982, and in 1984 learned about NASA's efforts to locate an educator to fly on the Shuttle. The intent was to find a gifted teacher who could communicate with students from space. NASA selected McAuliffe for this position in the summer of 1984 and in the fall she took a year-long leave of absence from teaching, during which time NASA would pay her salary, and trained for an early 1986 Shuttle mission. She had an immediate rapport with the media, and the teacher in space program received tremendous popular attention as a result. It is in part because of the excitement over McAuliffe's presence on the Challenger that the accident had such a significant impact on the nation. For Further Reading: Joseph D. Atkinson, Jr., and Jay M.

Shafritz, The Real Stuff: A History of the NASA Astronaut Recruitment Program (New York: Praeger 1985). Daniel and Susan Cohen, Heroes of the Challenger (London: Archway Paperbacks, 1986). Grace Corrigan, A Journal for Christa: Christa McAuliffe, Teacher in Space (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993). Robert E. Hohler, "I Touch the Future . . ." The Story of Christa McAuliffe (New York: Random House, 1986). William P. Rogers, et al., Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, five volumes (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1986). David Shayler, Shuttle Challenger (London: Salamander Books, 1987). Joseph J. Trento, with reporting by Susan B. Trento, Prescription for Disaster: From the Glory of Apollo to the Betrayal of the Shuttle (New York: Crown Pubs., 1987).

Staff of the Washington Post, Challengers: The Inspiring Life Stories of the Seven Brave Astronauts of Shuttle Mission 51-L (New York: Pocket Books, 1986). For further information email hq-histinfo@nasa.gov Updated October 22, 2004 The Challenger Accident THE CHALLENGER ACCIDENT On January 28, 1986, the 25th Space Shuttle mission, STS 51-L, ended in tragedy shortly after launch. The Challenger orbiter was destroyed, and the seven crew members died. A presidential commission investigating the accident concluded that a failure had occurred in the joint between the two lower segments of the right solid rocket booster. The rubber seal, or O-ring, had hardened overnight in the freezing weather and failed when the boosters ignited at launch. The escaping flame breached the external tank, and the vehicle broke apart as the propellants ignited. The commission also concluded that there were flaws in the Shuttle program. Many changes in the solid rocket booster and orbiter design, as well as in management, were made to improve safety.

Christa McAuliffe facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Christa McAuliffe COPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. Christa McAuliffe Teacher Christa McAuliffe (1948-1986) was the first private citizen to be included in a space mission. She died in a fiery explosion mere seconds after the launch of the space shuttle Challenger on January 28, 1986. Christa McAuliffe was a teacher, an "ordinary" person by her own estimation, and it was a paradigm of ordinary people that she impressed on her students; she taught that history is a result of ordinary people living their lives in their own times. In her eagerness to be the first civilian in outer space she resolved to keep a record of her journey for posterity, the journal of an "everyday teacher" in space. The Challenger spacecraft on which McAuliffe was to ride was a well-maintained member of the U.S. shuttle fleet, having made several previous trips into orbit around the earth.

In 120 days of training and preparation for her flight, McAuliffe learned to cope with every foreseeable disaster—save one: the event of an explosion aboard the shuttle within 74 seconds of liftoff, even before the shuttle's solid rocket boosters consumed their two million pounds of auxiliary fuel. An Ordinary Life McAuliffe was born Sharon Christa Corrigan on September 2, 1948 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her parents, Edward and Grace Corrigan, raised their five children in Framingham, Massachusetts. McAuliffe's father was an accountant and her mother a substitute teacher. McAuliffe was always known as Christa. She was the oldest of the Corrigan siblings, and was responsible and emotionally mature, even as a child. She joined the Brownies and later the Girl Scouts of America. She loved the outdoors, spent summers at Camp Wabasso in New Hampshire, and liked to ski and play softball. Music was important to McAuliffe. She studied piano and performed in student musicals at Marian High School in Framingham. It was also at Marian High School that she met her future husband, Steven James McAuliffe.

After graduation in 1966 she enrolled at Framingham State College while Steven McAuliffe attended the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. At Framingham State, McAuliffe majored in history. She sang in the glee club and was elected twice to be the captain of the debate team. She graduated from Framingham in 1970 with tentative plans for a career in social service. That same year on August 23 she married Steven McAuliffe and went to live in Maryland. After the move, McAuliffe accepted a teaching position at Benjamin Foulois Junior High School in Morningside, Maryland where she taught American history to eighth grade students. Between 1971 until 1978 she taught eighth and ninth grade history, English, and civics at Thomas Johnson Junior High School in the town of Lanham. She was by then committed to her career as a teacher and enrolled in graduate courses at Bowie State College in Bowie, Maryland. She earned a master's degree in education in 1978. In her thesis McAuliffe discussed the acceptance of the handicapped child in a regular classroom by his peers.

Her husband, during those years, attended law school and was employed as a defense lawyer for the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps before entering private practice in 1975. The McAuliffe's son, Scott, was born on September 1, 1976. Two years later the young family moved to Concord, New Hampshire in order for Steven to work as an assistant district attorney for the State of New Hampshire. In Concord, on August 24, 1979, their daughter, Caroline, was born. The following year, in 1980, McAuliffe resumed teaching. She began at Rundlett Junior High School in Concord and later transferred to Bow Memorial School in Bow, New Hampshire where she taught ninth-grade English from 1981 until 1982. McAuliffe's generous contributions to community activities included serving as resident of the Bow teacher's union, teaching Christian doctrine to children at her parish church, and campaigning for a local hospital and for the YWCA. She joined the Junior Service League, participated in "A Better Chance" a program for inner city students, and was a Girl Scout troop leader.

When she taught at Concord High School, beginning in 1982, she authored and taught a course entitled, "The American Women." Teacher in Space Program McAuliffe was teaching at Concord High School in November 1984 when Vice-President George Bush announced the "Teacher in Space Project" to the people of the United States. By February 1, 1985, McAuliffe had filed an application explaining her interest in the space program. Charlene W. Billings quoted her recollection in Christa McAuliffe: Pioneer Space Teacher, "the excitement in my home when the first satellites were launched. I was caught up with their wonder. I cannot join the space program and restart my life as an astronaut, but I watched the Space Age being born and I would like to participate." The initial selection process reduced the applicant pool to 114 teachers. McAuliffe survived the cut and went to Washington, D.C. to proceed with the selection process before the National Review Panel. The diverse panel included former astronauts, NASA officials, educators, politicians, executives, professional athletes, two actors, a physicist, and others. The panel selected ten finalists from among the 114 applicants.

The candidates endured days of intensive medical, physical, and psychological examinations and persistent briefings followed by final interviews with a panel of seven senior NASA officials. As quoted by Billings, McAuliffe told members of the panel: "I've always been concerned that ordinary people have not been given their place in history. I would like to humanize the space age by giving the perspective of a non-astronaut. Space is the future. As teachers we prepare the students for the future. We have to include it, space is for everyone." McAuliffe promised to share her adventure by means of a meticulously kept diary that she would record in space. In a unanimous decision the seven-member NASA Space Flight Participant Evaluation Committee awarded the assignment of "first teacher in space" to Christa McAuliffe. She received a keepsake award at a formal announcement ceremony on July 19, 1985 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. McAuliffe returned to Concord on August 6, 1985, and the city observed "Christa McAuliffe Day" in her honor. She received commendations from her town and from the state of New Hampshire.

The National Education Association (NEA) honored McAuliffe as well. Astronaut Training In late summer of 1985, McAuliffe left New Hampshire for the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. On September 9 she embarked on an intensive training program to prepare for NASA Mission 51-L, her journey into space. During that mission shuttle astronauts would deploy the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-2 (TDRS-2), a communications satellite. They would also deploy and retrieve a machine called the Spartan-Halley carrier to study ultraviolet light from the tail of Halley's Comet. Throughout her 120 days of astronaut training, McAuliffe shared the experience with the American public through mainstream media outlets. She received briefings and learned to read flight data and to operate certain cockpit controls. She practiced proper procedures for entering and exiting the space shuttle and learned to operate the ship's on-board cameras. She trained on a KC-135 training jet that simulated weightlessness for the astronauts. Other simulators depicted the appearance of space and the feeling of extra gravity pull on liftoff.

McAuliffe's emergency training included fire fighting, and the use of a "rescue ball," to be used like a space suit in the event of an in-orbit rescue from the shuttle. McAuliffe learned to operate galley equipment, and even how to accomplish bathroom operations in outer space. Her flight apparel included shirts, shorts, underwear, socks, slipper socks, flight boots, gloves, pants, a jacket, coveralls, and a personal hygiene kit. Her supply kit contained a watch, flashlight, pressurized pens, pencils, sunglasses, scissors, a pocketknife, earplugs, and a mask for sleeping. She learned to operate a sleep restraint harness to prevent drifting about the cabin when resting. McAuliffe selected her own meals from an assortment of space food. For entertainment she brought six tape cassettes and a tape player. McAuliffe learned how to capture clear, sharp, detailed photographs from space with a personal camera. Like tourists everywhere, she planned to return with souvenir pictures of her trip.

As the first teacher in space, McAuliffe prepared two in-flight lessons about outer space: "The Ultimate Field Trip" and "Where We've Been, Where We're Going, Why," to be broadcast live from the orbiting space shuttle to U.S. school-children. Included among the shuttle cargo were three experiments prepared and donated by U.S. schoolchildren. There was an experiment to observe the effects of outer space on developing chicken embryos, another to study crystal growth, and a third to study grain formation and metal strength in a weightless environment. McAuliffe would also monitor an experiment in hydroponics (growing plants using only liquid nutrients, without soil). A crew of six would board the shuttle along with McAuliffe for Mission 51-L: Commander Francis "Dick" Scobee, Pilot Michael J. Smith, engineer Judith Resnick, physicist Ronald E. McNair, aerospace engineer Ellison S. Onizuka, and engineer Gregory B. Jarvis. Several days prior to launch, the crew, including McAuliffe, entered quarantine to minimize the danger of infectious disease on-board the shuttle. Weather and other problems caused repeated rescheduling of the original launch date of January 22, 1986.

NASA pushed the date back to January 25, and then to January 26. On the morning of January 27 the astronauts entered the shuttle hatch approximately two hours before the scheduled lift-off. They buckled into their seats, but ten minutes prior to lift-off the countdown was delayed for mechanical repairs. Four hours later, with repairs completed, the weather changed and the flight was postponed for the fourth time. The astronauts returned to quarantine. Liftoff On January 28, 1986 the Challenger was prepared for launch from Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. The temperature that day hovered at 27 degrees Fahrenheit. McAuliffe and Jarvis, payload specialists, were in the mid-deck of the tri-level crew-module along with mission specialist Onizuka. The pilot and navigators were assigned to the upper flight deck, while the bottom deck served as an equipment bay. The shuttle's external fuel tank, 153 feet long by 27 feet wide, carried over one million pounds of fuel. The tank would separate when empty, as would the tanks of the twin solid rocket boosters, each nearly as large as the fuel tank and designed to burn out within three minutes after launch.

The tiles on the outside of the Challenger could withstand heat of 2,300 to 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit. Mission 51-L would have been the tenth voyage into space for the 122-foot Challenger, but the catastrophic flight lasted a mere 74 seconds. At 11:39 a.m. the fuel tanks exploded, much of the spacecraft disintegrated, and all aboard perished. Helpless, horrified onlookers watched as the shuttle carrying seven astronauts fizzled like a flare and fell into the sea. Some weeks later a NASA search crew located the wreckage of the space shuttle Challenger on the ocean floor. Christa McAuliffe's remains were returned to New Hampshire and buried near her home on May 1, 1986. McAuliffe and the other crewmembers each had carried cherished keepsakes on board the Challenger's final mission. McAuliffe brought with her a class ring belonging to Steve McAuliffe, a necklace belonging to her daughter, a stuffed frog from her son, a pennant from Concord High School, a photograph of her high school class, and a personal T-shirt that read, "I touch the future.

I teach." Further Reading Space Shuttle Challenger explodes in 1986 - NY Daily News Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 72 seconds into its flight in 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explodes in 1986 NEW YORK DAILY NEWS NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Tuesday, January 27, 2015, 12:00 PM (Originally published by the Daily News on Jan. 29, 1986. This story was written by Charles W. Bell.) Man’s dream of conquering space died a little yesterday. In a boiling maelstrom of flame, the shuttle Challenger disintegrated 72 seconds into a flight from Cape Canaveral, killing teacher Christa McAuliffe, the first “citizen in space,” and her six astronaut companions. CHALLENGER DISASTER 30 YEARS AGO: DAILY NEWS COVERAGE America’s ambitious venture to reach beyond our world suddenly became more costly, and President Reagan and the nation mourned the loss of “seven heroes.” “This is truly a national loss,” Reagan said in a national eulogy after canceling his planned State of the Union address last night.

“We mourn seven heroes… who escaped the surly bounds of Earth to touch the face of God.” It was the first in-flight disaster in the 25-year, 56-launch history of the U.S. space program - and the worst recorded disaster for either the Americans or Soviets. The space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after lifting off from Kennedy Space Center. All seven crew members died in the explosion, which was blamed on faulty o-rings in the shuttle's booster rockets. (BRUCE WEAVER/AP) NASA immediately suspended its ambitious 1986 shuttle launch schedule until it can determine why Challenger exploded. “We’re obviously not going to pick any flight activity until we fully understand what the circumstances were relative to launch,” Jesse Moore, associate administrator for spaceflight, said Cape Canaveral. Moore declined to speculate about how long an investigation might take. One area of concern was the amount of ice that formed on the launch pad before the takeoff. Challenger disaster marks 30th anniversary Icicles then formed at various places on the pad. The countdown leading to the tragic launch was put on hold about 9:08 a.m. and resumed two hours later following inspection of the ice by a team of specialists.

One of the victims, McAuliffe, was a high school social studies teacher in Concord, N.H., who had been chosen from 11,146 teachers to become the first “ordinary” citizen in space. Another victim was physicist Ronald McNair, 36, whose father Carl operated an automobile body repair shop in Harlem until about eight months ago. McAuliffe, 37, had planned to give two 15-minute lessons from space, with the PBS public television network beaming them to 25 million students in schools from Florida to Canada and Alaska. Her husband, Steven, and children, Scott, 9, and Caroline, 6, were watching from a VIP stand at the launch site, with Christa’s parents, Edward and Grace Corrigan. As Challenger exploded into a boiling ball of flame, the Corrigans grabbed each other, but it was not until several seconds later that they appeared to understand what had happened. Francis Scobee, 46, was the commander of the planned six-day flight, which had intended to release and retrieve one satellite to study Halley’s comet and to launch another satellite that would become part of the space communications network.

Other members of the doomed crew were co-pilot Michael Smith, 40, Judith Resnik, 36, Ellison Onizuka, 39, and satellite engineer Gregor Jarvis, 41. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration refused to predict the disaster’s impact on the U.S. space program, beyond saying that it would temporarily suspended flights. The last flight of Challenger started in the usual flawless, spectacular fashion: The gleaming craft, one of four in the NASA shuttle fleet, had risen from Launch Pad 39-B at 11:38 a.m. after five postponements caused by freezing weather and technical glitches. Smooth Climb On Jan. 28, 1986, millions of people watched with excitement when the Challenger space shuttle took off from its Florida launch pad -- but the excitement quickly turned into horror when it exploded just 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all 7 astronauts on board. (AP Photo/NASA) It was climbing smoothly, trailing a spectacular but normal 700-foot geyser of fire, when suddenly it erupted in a huge boiling ball of fire and shot out of control. The news sent shock waves around the world.

Reagan was presiding over a meeting in the Oval Office when aides rushed in to tell him of the Challenger disaster. He watched a replay on office television set, then announced that he was postponing his State of the Union Address, which had been slated for last night, for one week. Reagan also ordered Vice President Bush to fly to Cape Canaveral to lead the investigation. The flight was the 10th for the workhorse Challenger and the 25th shuttle flight, and its loss was the worst setback for NASA since the first Apollo moon capsule burned as it sat on its launching pad during a simulated liftoff 19 years and one day ago. Killed in the explosion were astronauts Virgil (Gus) Grissom, Edward White 2d and Roger B. Chaffee. Flights canceled Amid confusion over the future of the space program, Reagan said that he was sure that NASA would launch no missions pending the outcome of the Challenger investigation. This might take a year or longer, some experts said. The crew of the space shuttle Challenger. From left, first row: Michael J. Smith, Francis R. (Dick) Scobee and Ronald E. McNair.

Second row, from left: Ellison S. Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis and Judith A. Resnik. (NASA) NASA said the Challenger mission seemed entirely normal until one minute 12-seconds after launch, when the shuttle had reached a speed of 1,977 miles per hour - three times the speed of sound. At that point, it was 10.4 miles up and eight miles offshore. Mission control in Houston told the shuttle “Challenger, go at throttle-up” - an order to switch to full power. Scobee increased power to the main engines and, in his final words, said, “Roger, go at throttle-up.” Suddenly, the spacecraft was engulfed in a ball of flame. On a slow-motion video rerun of the explosion, it was difficult to determine the source of the explosion. But closeups of the doomed craft clearly showed that the huge fuel tank, filled with more than 525,000 gallons of volatile liquid hydrogen and oxygen propellant, ruptured and tore Challenger into many pieces.

Boosters fly off After the explosion, the two solid fuel booster rockets - capable of 2.6 million pounds of thrust - separated and continued to fly crazily out of control in the clear blue sky, trailing long tails of smoke as they plunged into the sea. Christa McAuliffe's sister, Lisa, sees the space shuttle Challenger explode over Cape Canaveral, Florida. A voice on public address system at mission control said, “Flight controllers here after looking very carefully at the situation, obviously a major malfunction.” “We have no down link,” he added, meaning that there was no communication from the orbiter. After a 40-second pause, he said: “We have a report from the flight dynamics officer that the vehicle has exploded. (The) flight director confirms that we are out looking at checking with the recovery forces to see what can be done.” Debris raining down from the $1.2 billion craft, which exploded at an altitude of just over 54,000 feet, prevented rescue squads from entering the area for an hour, a Defense Department spokesman said.

Mission control reported that the spacecraft had exploded and fallen in bits into the Atlantic in an area about 18 miles off Cape Canaveral and the ships and planes were en route. Shortly after the explosion, the House of Representatives held a moment of silence to honor those on the shuttle. Chaplain James David Ford led members in a prayer - “May your spirit, oh Lord, be with them.” Unlike the shuttle Columbia during its first flights at the dawn of the shuttle era, Challenger was not equipped with ejection seats or other ways for the crew to get out of the spacecraft. Not that it would have made any difference, said experts who saw the explosion. Tags: Space Shuttle Challenger Fast Facts - CNN.com Space Shuttle Challenger Fast Facts CNN Library Updated 10:41 AM ET, Thu January 28, 2016 Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds. Photo by NASA/Getty Images (CNN) Here's a look at what you need to know about the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Facts: Seven crew members died in the explosion, including Christa McAuliffe, who would have been the first teacher in space.

The explosion was a result of a rocket booster failure which ignited the fuel tank. Some of the objectives of Mission STS-51L included the "Comet Halley Active Monitoring Program" (CHAMP), a fluid dynamics experiment, and lesson plans and telecasts by Christa McAuliffe. Timeline: April 4, 1983 - The Challenger's maiden voyage, STS-6. The Challenger completed nine successful missions between 1983 and 1986. Read More July 19, 1985 - New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe is chosen to be the first teacher in space. January 28, 1986 - The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds into flight at approximately 11:40 a.m. EST. Crew: Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion 25th Anniversary; Remembering Christa McAuliffe and Astronauts - ABC News ABC News Remembering the Challenger: 25 Years Ago, Space Shuttle Exploded After Liftoff By Karen Travers WATCH Challenger: Where Were You?

0 Shares Just before noon on January 28, 1986, people watched with excitement as the space shuttle Challenger lifted off from its Florida launch pad -- but that excitement and hope soon turned into horror. Just seventy-three seconds after liftoff, Challenger exploded, killing all seven astronauts on board. One of its crew members was Christa McAuliffe , a school teacher from New Hampshire who had won a national competition to become the first teacher in space. The goal was to boost interest in space exploration among American school children, many of whom were watching the Challenger's launch live on television or in person. "We were all outside and the kids were all standing around and all of sudden we saw the smoke break into the Y shape," said Kari Anna Roy, who was in fourth grade at an elementary school in Lutz, Fla. "The teachers immediately knew something was wrong and rushed us back inside." Roy said it took a while for her and her fellow classmates to grasp what happened. "There was a teacher on board and we had been very excited about it and talking about it in school for a long time," she said.

"It was a pretty devastating kind of thing especially for a school and we had all directly seen it happen right there." Kevin Baron, now a reporter for Stars and Stripes, said that his Orlando elementary school watched every shuttle launch. "We were in the lunchroom when the principal came in to tell us to turn on all the TVs," Baron said. "We walked outside into the field and the smoke trail was still coming down. We spent the rest of the day in school watching TV." Jen Vargas also watched the launch from her Orlando elementary school. "It was right before lunch, we were standing out there watching the shuttle go up. Usually it just goes straight up and it kind of veered off to the right. A lot of kids were confused, I was confused," she said. "We were crying and upset because we knew we had just seen the astronauts walk out and wave into the crowd and everything, and then we see them go up and the explosion happened. The Challenger Disaster, 25 Years Later The horrifying image of that massive fireball in the sky was replayed endlessly on television and burned into Americans' memories.

President Ronald Reagan was scheduled to deliver his State of the Union Address that night, but the White House postponed the speech and instead the president tried to comfort a grieving nation. "We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ``slipped the surly bonds of earth'' to ``touch the face of God," Reagan said in what was perhaps the most memorable speech of his presidency. Reagan also spoke directly to the nation's school children. "I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons," he said. "The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them." The Challenger explosion not only dealt a major blow to the nation's psyche, but also to NASA. The shuttle program was grounded for nearly three years in the wake of the disaster as NASA investigated its cause. Ultimately, the investigation proved that the disaster could have been prevented.

John Pike, a national security analyst and space specialist, said NASA still has not recovered from the Challenger disaster. "I think it's clear that NASA today is a consequence of the Challenger accident, because prior to the accident NASA had a confidence about where it was going and its ability to get there that it simply doesn't have today. "NASA has no idea where it's going and is tremendously confused about how to get there." In 2004, after America lost a second shuttle, Columbia, President George W. Bush announced the retirement of the aging shuttle fleet by the end of the decade -- after nearly 30 years and more than 100 missions -- and the development of a new, more modern space exploration vehicle. The Challenger Disaster, 25 Years Later "Our current programs and vehicles for exploring space have brought us far, and they have served us well," Bush said. "It has been used to conduct important research and to increase the sum of human knowledge." Last year, President Obama announced a new direction for the nation's space program, scrapping plans to send another astronaut back to the moon and instead focusing efforts on reaching Mars.

Obama came under considerable fire in recent weeks for his decision to cancel the Bush administration's plan to send an American manned mission to the moon for a seventh time. Obama insisted he was 100 percent committed to NASA's mission and future. "For me, the space program has always captured an essential part of what it means to be an American -- reaching for new heights, stretching beyond what previously did not seem possible," Obama said last April to an audience of several hundred astronauts, engineers and members of the NASA community at the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Fla. "And so, as president, I believe that space exploration is not a luxury, it's not an afterthought in America's quest for a brighter future -- it is an essential part of that quest." Just two or three more space shuttle launches remain -- Discovery, which is scheduled to launch on Feb 24; and Endeavour, which is scheduled for April 19. A launch of Atlantis is timelined for June but is not yet funded. Astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, is scheduled to command the Endeavour mission. Just as President Reagan promised in the hours after the tragedy, Americans still remember the Challenger and its crew.

This week, the seven astronauts were honored at memorial services at Johnson Space Center in Houston and at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Today, there are nearly 50 Challenger Learning Centers worldwide, where hundreds of thousands of school children are encouraged to reach for the stars. 0 Shares 1000+ images about Space Shuttle Challenger on Pinterest | Astronauts, Christa mcauliffe and Teaching Forward Challenger Explosion Photograph courtesy NASA On January 28, 1986, about 76 seconds into its launch, fragments of space shuttle Challenger are seen tumbling against a background of fire, smoke, and vaporized propellants. The left solid rocket booster continues to fly, still thrusting. Later investigations found that faulty O-rings were to blame for the accident, in which all seven crew members died. It was the first such tragedy in shuttle history. See More Challenger Disaster Live on CNN - YouTube Challenger Disaster Live on CNN Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Uploaded on Jul 24, 2007 January 28th, 1986 at 11:39am EDT - The Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes on its 10th flight during mission STS-51-L. The explosion occurred 73 seconds after liftoff and was actually the result of rapid deceleration and not combustion of fuel. CNN was the only national news station to broadcast the mission live, so thus what you are witnessing on this video is the only coverage of the disaster as it happened when it did. Approximately 17% of Americans witnessed the launch live, while 85% of Americans heard of the news within 1 hour of the event. According to a study, only 2 other times in history up to that point had news of an event disseminated so fast - the first being the announcement of JFK's assassination in 1963, the second being news spread among students at Kent State regarding the news of FDR's death in 1945. It has been estimated at the time that nearly 48% of 9-13 year olds witnessed the event in their classrooms, as McAuliffe was in the spotlight.

The 25th Space Shuttle mission altered the history of manned space exploration and represented the first loss of an American crew during a space mission (Apollo 1 was during a training exercise). Christa McAuliffe was slated to be the first teacher in space for the Teacher in Space Program. As her maximum altitude was ~65,000ft (12.31 miles), she never made it to space. That title was given to Barbara Morgan of STS-118 aboard the shuttle Endeavour in August 2007, 22 and a half years after the Challenger Disaster. Morgan served as McAuliffe's backup during STS-51-L. As Morgan is now part of the Educator in Space Program, she will be credited as the first "educator" in space, to distinguish her from McAuliffe.

Aboard Challenger during STS-51-L: Sharon Christa McAuliffe (Payload Specialist - Teacher in Space) Category Challenger disaster: remembered - Photos - The Big Picture - Boston.com Challenger disaster: remembered On January 28, 1986, at 11:38 a.m., EST, the space shuttle Challenger lifted off Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The entire crew of seven was lost in the explosion 73 seconds into the launch. Today, on the 25th anniversary of this national tragedy, we honor in memory the brave crew who gave their lives for the exploration of space. Sharon Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire social studies teacher, was NASA's choice for the first teacher in space. Because McAuliffe was our local astronaut, she is featured heavily in this post, but we honor all seven on the anniversary of a nation's great loss. -- Paula Nelson ( 34 photos total ) The crew of the space shuttle Challenger. From left: Ellison Onizuka, Mike Smith, Christa McAuliffe, Dick Scobee, Greg Jarvis, Ron McNair and Judith Resnik.

(NASA/1986) 2 Christa McAuliffe at Johnson Space Center in Houston. A whole generation, including McAuliffe's own students, has grown up since McAuliffe and six other astronauts perished on Jan. 28, 1986, a quarter century ago on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011. Former schoolchildren who loved her are making sure that people who weren't even born then know about McAuliffe and her dream of going into space. (AP/1985) # 3 Christa McAuliffe rides in the Lions Club parade, passing in front of the New Hampshire Statehouse, with her daughter, Caroline, and son, Scott. McAuliffe was a social studies teacher at Concord High School, before being chosen NASA's first teacher in space. (The Boston Globe/Janet Knott/1985) # 4 McAuliffe, chosen America's first teacher to fly aboard a space shuttle mission conducts her hometown volunteer "Nevers Band" on the Statehouse lawn.

Concord had proclaimed "Christa McAuliffe Day." She conducted the band in "Stars and Stripes Forever" (The Boston Globe/Janet Knott/1985) # 24 President Ronald Reagan, surrounded by members of his senior staff, watches a television replay of the explosion of the Challenger at the White House. From left are: Larry Speakes, Deputy White House Press Secretary; Presidential Assistant Dennis Thomas; Special Assistant Jim Kuhn; Reagan; White House Communications Director Patrick Buchanan, and Chief of Staff Donald Regan (AP/Craig Fuji) # 25 Customer David Kimball reacts as store employees Lynne Beck and Lisa Olson embrace. They watched the Houston memorial service for the astronauts who died in the Challenger explosion at a store in Concord, N.H. Pictured on the television screen are family members of one of the astronauts. (AP/Charles Krupa/1986) # 28 Sailors from the Navy salvage ship USS Preserver pull in what is believed to be part of the rocket casing of an inertial upper stage, which rode in Challenger's cargo bay when it exploded 1/28/86.

The stage was to have boosted a tracking data satellite to a higher orbit, after release by the crew. The debris was found in waters about 70 feet deep, 20 miles northeast of the Kennedy Space Center. (AP) # 29 Members of the Presidential Commission on the space shuttle Challenger accident walk past the solid rocket boosters and the external tank of a shuttle being fitted in the Vehicle Assembly building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP) # 30 Debris from the space shuttle Challenger is laid out on a giant grid at the Kennedy Space Center in this March 1986 NASA photo. NASA hoped to piece together the remains of the space vehicle. The photograph was part of the testimony given to the Presidential Commission on the space shuttle Challenger accident. (NASA) # 32 Snow falls on the gravesite of Christa McAuliffe. McAuliffe and the rest of the crew of the space shuttle Challenger died 25 years ago when the shuttle exploded. Before the world knew her as "the teacher in space," McAuliffe was known as a popular, energetic teacher who took a great interest in her students.

(AP/Jim Cole) # 33 Christa McAuliffe Elementary students walk past a display honoring McAuliffe in February 2003, after an assembly about the history of the space shuttles. McAuliffe, and the six other astronauts who died 25 years ago today, are remembered for their courage and desire to explore the unknown. (AP/Mike Roemer) # 34 A wreath commemorating the seven astronauts who perished in the space shuttle Challenger accident rests in the Astronaut Memorial Tree Grove during the annual National Day of Remembrance ceremony at the Johnson Space Center on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011, in Houston (AP/Houston Chronicle/Smiley N. Pool) # More links and information

Question: Christa McAuliffe died in an accident in what type of vehicle in 1986?
Answer: Space Shuttle